InterviewPaper
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Interviewsummary
Accordingto the interview taken two respondents gave a similar view on thelength of the days in Genesis. They expounded that the world and allthat dwelt in it was created for a period of six days. According tothem the number of days in Genesis is seven in which one of the daysthe creator of the earth and heavens took a rest. However theyexplained that the two creation stories give different view on howcreation took place. They further expounded that the days in Genesiswere 24-hour long periods. They based their argument on the secondday of creation that explains that God made a separation of thewaters above the earth from those below the surface of the earth andin this case there was no time fraction given hence they argued thatthe length of the day could be 24 hours. On the contrary one of theinterviewees sided with the young earth creationist in which theinterviewee articulated that the days in Genesis were 12 hours long.
Inrelation to the age of the earth, two of the interviewees expoundedthat the age of the earth is 6000 years. They drew theirillustrations from the bible whereby they argued that since Adam wascreated on the sixth day, then it is evident that there were fivedays which were before him, therefore when adding the dates from Adamto Abraham we get 2000 years, since. Abraham lived 4000 years ago thetotal age of the earth is found to be 6000 years ago. Therefore theywere in line with the young earth creationist. One of intervieweeshowever differed in the views and stated that the age of the earthcannot be estimated because it can be a billion of years whenestimated through radiometric dating.
Oneof the interviewees stated that man and apes have a common origin.The illustrations to support the statement were drawn from theevolution theory in which the interviewee expounded that mandeveloped in phases where the existence was from apes to man,therefore, the origin is common. The other two interviewees exploredthat man and ape do not have a common origin in that man was createdby God and that there is no relationship between man and ape in termsof sharing a common ancestry.
Accordingto the interview, two of the interviewees presented that Adam and Evewere real people. They drew their illustrations from the biblicalconcept in which they presented that the beings were created by God.They further expounded that Adam was created first followed by Eve.Therefore, this were real people since it is through the genealogyof Adam that real human beings exist. On the other hand, the otherinterviewee presented that the two beings were not real. Drawingillustrations from the evolution theory the interviewee argued thatman evolved from apes and therefore Adam and Eve are not real people.
Interviewresponse
Thetopic of creation has attracted researcher to debate on the mostargued topics with various people holding different opinions andideas regarding various aspects of creation. For instance, thecommonly asked question about the length of days in Genesis has drawnmore attention with people giving it different answers. According tomy perspective, I would like to present that a day is 24 hours long.Both theoretical and biblical explanations give substantial evidence.Drawing from my illustrations from the knowledge gained and thebiblical concepts .According to Genesis chapter, one of the bible God made a division of the light from the darkness and assigned lightto be the day ,besides the darkness was assigned the night (Lucas,2015). Therefore, the evening and the dawn formed the first day.Absolutely, it is understood from the scientific point of view that,day and night are caused by the rotation of the earth, and thisindicates the end of a day. Since the rotation of the earth takesplace in 24 hours then the length of the day is 24 hours.
Althougha number of scholars argue that the age of the earth is a billionyears which cannot be estimated. My view on that concept is that theage of the earth is 6000 years. In the biblical concept, the earthwas created on the first day of creation as per the narration whichis given in chapter one of the Genesis (Lucas, 2015). Given that Adamwas created on the sixth day it is right to state that there werefive days which were before him. As a scholar, I will argue that theperiod Abraham existed was about 4000 years ago. Neglecting the fivedays it is vivid to present that the age of the earth is 6000 years.
Arguably,human beings and apes do not have a common origin. The origin of manis traced back to the creation stories in Genesis (Collins, 2010). Inthis case, a man was created by God and therefore this aspect makesthe view that man and ape have a common origin to be opposed.
Itis also important to note that Adam and Eve were real people.According to the Christian point of view, God made a decision tocreate Man to take care of the land and whatever that had beencreated (Collins, 2010). As human beings, our genealogy is traced toAdam in whom we are viewed to originate from Adam.
Asper the interview conducted, one of the interviews differed with meon the first question when the interviewee presented that the age ofthe earth is 12 hours. It is clear that the view is not right. Thisis because from the biblical concepts and the other religious books it is highlighted that the day and night passed as another day came.This is from the Genesis stories of creation. On the same note, thescientific view presents that day night are caused by the rotation ofthe earth. As it is understood rotation takes place after 24 hours.So the length of the day cannot be 12 hours as the intervieweestated.
Similarly,as the interviewee stated the age of the earth is billions of years.However, the evidence given was not valuable since the intervieweepresented that the age cannot be easily estimated. In addition, theradiometric dating of estimating the age of the earth cannot berelied upon. Therefore, the age of the earth is 6000 years as it isportrayed from the creation stories (Poythress, 2015). Arguing fromthat perception, the chronological events in the bible give moreexplanations about the age in which Abraham lived which has a closeconnection with the time Adam was created. This, therefore, gives theway to calculate the age of the earth and life in a procedural way.
Onthe same note, the idea presented by the interviewee that the apesand humans have a common origin is prone to debate. According to theviews highlighted in biblical concepts, it is claimed that humanbeings were created in the image of God, so it will be absolutelywrong to argue that apes and human beings have a common origin(Thorpe, McClymont, , Crompton,2014). The image and likeness ofGod, in this case, implies that man has the ability to think whereasapes do not possess such potentials (POYTHRESS, 2015). Therefore,Adam and Eve are real beings since their origin never came fromchance but it was as a result of creation by God.
Thereforethrough the information obtained from the course materials and otherresources based on religion and theological concepts informationregarding the creation stories is substantial for providing answersto the commonly debated questions. Hence, the views presented aredependent upon the source of information, but however it is true tosay that the above ideas are true as the information supporting theviews is from efficient sources.
References
POYTHRESS,V. S. (2015). BIBLICAL STUDIES. Westminster Theological Journal,77(1), 71-99.
Lucas,E. C. (2015). The Bible, Science & Creation. EvangelicalQuarterly, 87(2), 99-113.
Thorpe,S. S., McClymont, J. M., & Crompton, R. H. (2014). The arborealorigins of human bipedalism. Antiquity,88(341), 906-914.
Collins,C. J. (2010). Adam and Eve as Historical People, and Why It Matters.Perspectives On Science & Christian Faith, 62(3), 147-165.p